


The End...?

by araluen_x



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Cheesy Enough For Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug), Declarations Of Love, F/M, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Love, Love Confessions, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-01-22 17:07:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21305570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/araluen_x/pseuds/araluen_x
Summary: **ABANDONED, WILL NOT BE CONTINUED**Hawkmoth has stopped playing games, and will stop at nothing to win now. The only problem for Ladybug and Chat Noir is that he's not even the biggest threat looking to stop them.(Starts off just after Timetagger)
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Luka Couffaine/Kagami Tsurugi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	1. Scarlet Moth

**Author's Note:**

> To start: This chapter is very short, but just so you know this is the ONLY SHORT CHAPTER. I just didn't know how long to make it, but the other ones are longer.
> 
> Finally, two notes about the names in this story: First of all, I'm going to write Chat Noir rather than Cat Noir, because I know French so it just makes way more sense to me since his name is already half French anyways.
> 
> And even though I know it's supposed to be Hawk Moth, instead I'm just gonna write Hawkmoth because it flows better.
> 
> Anyways, please enjoy!
> 
> (EDITED NOVEMBER 25, 2019)
> 
> I know this has no fans but just in case, come to my discord to talk with other fans! ^^  
[my discord server ^^](https://discord.gg/TrTsaDbZy5)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hawkmoth finally gets some sense and realizes that he should probably start actually trying to get the miraculouses rather than his usual half-assed attempts to re-akumatize babies and pigeon lovers.
> 
> (Okay the actual chapter is about more than that but tbh the show DOES make him very stupid most of the time.)

Gabriel Agreste was furious. He paced in front of his wife's chamber, as he had been doing for the last hour, contemplating everything he had done as Hawkmoth. How had he not won yet? How was he not going to? After hearing that he was no longer Hawkmoth in the future, and that Ladybug and Chat Noir would still be around... well, what was the point of holding back? There was no point to any of this if he couldn't get his wish.

He had to go all out if he wanted to finally bring Emilie back. He had been holding back still, always trying to stay safe and not get caught or reveal his identity. But that was why he kept on failing. He rarely joined the fight, and the one time he had was the closest he had ever been to taking their miraculouses and getting his wife back awake.

It meant putting Natalie in danger by making her work, which he regretted, but it was worth it in the end. He could even use his wish to heal them both at the same time.

But he knew one thing for sure - the time to act was now.

* * *

Marinette sat in the park in front of her school, sketching away in an attempt to cheer herself up. It was a bright and sunny morning, but for some reason she still felt glum. 

"What's wrong, Marinette?" Tikki asked her, looking worried. 

"It's just the thought that we'll still be fighting Hawkmoth when we're older," Marinette sighed. "I wanted to become a designer and live a life where I don't have to be in danger every day. I love being Ladybug... but I wish it wasn't necessary any more."

"It's okay, Marinette," Tikki said although she looked a little unsure herself. "Now that you know your future, you can find a way to change it!"

"You're right, Tikki. The time to act is now. It won't help anyone if I keep on holding back... next time there is an akuma, I will do whatever it takes to stop Hawkmoth once and for all. And if I fail, I will do that every time until it's over."

"That's the spirit," Tikki said with her more usual cheerful demeanor. Marinette smiled at her, then continued to sketch. Because of the success of the bird hat, she had started making more clothing inspired by the scenery and world around her, so today she was created a dress based on the very fountain she was sitting next to.

* * *

Adrien, having just finished his fencing and Chinese lessons, had nothing to do. Well, that wasn't quite true - he could practice the piano, or ask his father to go see his friends, but his father had been nowhere to be seen the entire day and Natalie seemed visibly stressed. That's why he knew that asking was a lost cause.

He wanted to transform and just jump out the window and be free - but there was no point in that either. The only person he wanted to see was Ladybug, since he could be accidentally seen if he visited any of his other friends, but since there wasn't an akumatized person, she wouldn't even be out there.

Finally, bored of just sitting there and pondering his possibilities, Adrien decided to try to write another poem for Ladybug. It was so long ago that the mystery person had responded to his last poem, and he had completely forgotten about it in the busyness of life. 

"Whatcha doin'?" Plagg asked, zooming over Adrien's shoulder. "You're not writing another love letter, are you?"

Adrien didn't have to respond. The fact that he had out a pencil, piece of paper, and a photo of Ladybug open on his phone gave Plagg all the response he needed. 

"Don't bother," Plagg said. "Maybe instead of focusing on her, you should see if there's anyone else who's more interested in you." Of course he was talking about Marinette - but Adrien was still completely oblivious to her crush on him, so he assumed Plagg was talking about Kagami.

"You know I've tried, Plagg," Adrien responded. "It's useless - I just can't imagine life without Ladybug."

"Oh well," Plagg said, already having half forgotten what they were talking about. All he could focus on was his growling stomach. "I'm going to go get some camembert, _my _true love."

Adrien sighed, resting his head in his hands. He was hopeless.

_(A/N okay I NEVER make notes, so don't expect any more, but I just want to mention I don't know who I was even talking about here - Plagg or Adrien!)_

* * *

Just across the house from Adrien, Hawkmoth and Natalie were together in the atrium.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" he asked Natalie. 

"Of course, Gabriel," Natalie responded firmly. "You know I know you deserve to win, and I will do anything it takes to help you."

Hawkmoth opened his hand, and a white butterfly flew into it. In a few seconds, the darkness had flowed into it, and Natalie held out her tablet just as she had last time. In only a few seconds, she had transformed back into the villain Catalyst.

"Catalyst," Hawkmoth began. "You will help me to do what I did last time and akumatize half of Paris at the same time. This time, we will be successful and my wish will finally come true." The smugness he normally had in his words was mostly gone, replaced by determination.

Catalyst, of course, immediately did as he requested. In mere seconds, Hawkmoth had transformed as well, and he was no longer Hawkmoth - once again, he had become Scarlet Moth. 

With a touch of his cane, the butterflies around him turned from white to a scarlet red colour. "Fly away, my little akumas," he muttered almost to himself, "and evilize as many people as you can find."


	2. A Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight against Scarlet Moth begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the other chapter was short - I didn't really know how long to make the chapters at the beginning. This and later chapters will be longer!
> 
> (Written November 24 2019)

Marinette was continuing her designs, having started on an outfit based after her school, when the people in the park around her started to gasp and mutter. Confused, Marinette looked up, only to see a dark red cloud coming their way and splitting into pieces as it came. Her mind flashed back to the last Scarlet Moth incident - she knew exactly what this was. 

"Everyone stay calm!" Marinette yelled to the other people in the square. "Scarlet Moth can't get to you if you don't have any negative emotions. Just keep quiet, and Ladybug and Chat Noir will come soon to rescue anyone who is transformed."

The few people in the square listened to her, spreading the message as they fled from the park while still trying to stay calm. Marinette, satisfied that the people there were safe for now, ran in the direction of the back of her school where she would be able to transform in peace. She needed to hurry, before Dark Cupid or another Akumatized person started to amplify people's negative emotions.

"This is bad," Tikki piped up as soon as they were out of earshot of the people in the park. "Scarlet Moth caused a lot of destruction last time he was around, and he almost won."

"Don't worry," Marinette responded confidently. "We've beaten him before, and we know how this works now - I know we can beat him again. Now Tikki, spots on!"

The second she was transformed, Ladybug swung off in the direction of the theatre she had last seen Master Fu at, the red butterflies dispersing behind her. 

* * *

Adrien, of course, was one of the first people to see the butterflies, seeing as they had originated from his house. Of course he didn't know that though, so his mind immediately went to his father and Natalie. They had both been in a bad mood - what if they got akumatized again? He realized instantly that he couldn't worry about them too much though, because he had to focus on the root of the problem - Scarlet Moth, wherever he was. 

"Plagg?" he called, and the Kwami flew out of his cheese cupboard.

"Yeah?"

"Claws out!"

"Oh come on," Plagg sighed quietly as he got sucked into Adrien's ring.

Transformed, Chat Noir jumped out of his window, ready to find Ladybug and begin the fight.

He stopped on a rooftop near the the Louvre, because the akumatized people he saw in the streets were all heading in that direction. He had hoped that after the last attack Paris would know to hide all emotions, but obviously with over 2 million people in Paris there were bound to be hundreds feeling bad emotions at any moment. Besides, some people wouldn't even know there was an akuma attack at all until it was too late.

Chat didn't know where Ladybug was at the moment, but he suspected that she was re-gathering their allies. Rena Rouge, Queen Bee, Carapace, Pegasus, Ryuko, King Monkey, Multimouse, and Viperion - although he felt a twinge of unhappiness at the last one. Of course he liked Luka, but it was just a reminder that he hadn't been able to save Ladybug as his normal self and now his chance of getting to know her as himself was basically ruined.

But he pushed those thoughts out of his mind. Now wasn't the time. Chat Noir slid open the phone on his staff, selecting Ladybug. She responded almost immediately.

"Hey Chat," she said to him as she swung through the rooftops. "I was just getting us some help. You remember how much it took for us to win the last battle, so we'll need all the help we can get."

"That's what I expected," Chat Noir sighed with a smile on his face. "Always so smart."

"Hey," said Ladybug, mildly annoyed. "Now's not the time. Just work on figuring out where Scarlet Moth is, and I'll be over there as soon as I can when I've transformed everyone."

"Of course, m'lady," Chat Noir responded, shutting his staff closed. Maybe if they defeated Scarlet Moth today then he could finally find out who Ladybug was... it was just a dream, but he could hope. 

In a few minutes, Ladybug was there, followed by some of the people Chat Noir had thought - Rena Rouge, of course, and Carapace, but only Pegasus and Viperion were there as well.

"I couldn't give the miraculouses to Queen Bee or Ryuko," Ladybug explained before he even had a chance to ask. "Scarlet Moth already knows who they are, so it's too risky to get their help when we already know he's more prepared today than normal. And unfortunately King Monkey was already akumatized, although that shouldn't affect our plans too much. And so is Multimouse," she added quickly under her breath, having almost forgotten to mention herself. "Anyways, where is Scarlet Moth?" she asked more loudly.

"Not here yet," Chat Noir responded. "But the akumatized people I've seen so far are moving in this direction, so finding him should be a piece of cake."

"Okay," Ladybug responded, clearly deep in thought. "I think we should try to de-akumatize these people before he even gets a chance to get here. Everyone, don't use your ability yet, we'll wait until the time is right for that - for now, let's go down there and save these innocent people."

"After you, m'lady," Chat Noir said, and the group hopped off of the building in a row after her. 

Fighting the people was easy with so many allies. However, after a few minutes, it became clear to all of them that something was wrong. 

"I think this is just a distraction," Rena Rouge was the first to say. "All of the easy villains are here, so I think the real army is somewhere else."

"Great thinking!" Carapace told her, gaining him a smile in return.

"You're right," Chat Noir responded at the same time. "I bet they're at the Eiffel Tower - that is where we fought them last time."

Ladybug nodded in agreement. "Bye-bye little butterflies," she said quickly, letting the butterflies she had caught so far fly back into the Parisian sky. The sky was starting to get dark, although it was hard to tell how much of it was from the evening beginning and how much of it was from the storm clouds that were starting to grow. "Let's go."

They were, of course, right. The Eiffel Tower was _swarming _with akumatized people - Scarlet Moth had clearly been keeping a lot of butterflies ready for an occasion like this. And the storm clouds they had seen earlier, too, were centered directly above the tower.

"Stormy Weather," Ladybug sighed. "Of course."

"What's the plan?" Viperion asked. He had been mostly silent up to this point, just observing the scenes around him and thinking.

"Hmm. We need to focus on our main target, Scarlet Moth, which is where I think you, Rena Rouge, will come handy. With an illusion, you will be able to distract the majority of Scarlet Moth's army, so that the rest of us can move on him."

"Got it," she responded.

"Carapace, your power would best be used to shield us as we travel across the square to the tower. Even if most of the akumatized people are distracted by Rena Rouge, some will still attack us, but we need to move quickly."

"Viperion..." she paused for a second. "As soon as we are close to Scarlet Moth, I trust you to activate your second chance whenever you think you should - there's no real way to tell when is best."

"Of course," he nodded. 

"And Pegasus... you will be our final resort. If we need to escape the battle at the last second, or if any of us are about to transform back, then it will be your job to save us. Alright?"

Pegasus nodded in understanding.

"And as for me and Chat Noir... of course, we will go in there, I will use my charm, and we'll figure out what you can cataclysm once we get there. As soon as we know Scarlet Moth is in there, is everyone ready?"

The group nodded to her, determined expressions on all of their faces.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. "Wait. Last time, Scarlet Moth escaped because Volpina was around to create illusions as well. If any of you see Volpina, go after her instead - Chat Noir and I can handle Scarlet Moth by ourselves."

After this small change in plans, they waited there for several minutes, lurking and watching in the growing shadows, when Scarlet Moth appeared in the same spot he had last time.

"Rena Rouge, now," Ladybug said.

"Mirage!" she called, which of course attracted the attention of several of the people on the ground. However, at that point it was too late for them, because dozens of copies of the entire superhero group burst out from that spot. Some Ladybugs swung out from the rooftops towards the Eiffel tower, some Viperions started to sprint across the open square straight towards the army of akumatized people, some Chat Noirs called cataclysms into their hands and started to attack the approaching army, and some Carapaces ran away from the scene, many of them with Rena Rouges underneath their shields.

The real group, Carapace under the shield with Ladybug, Chat Noir, Pegasus, and Viperion, followed some of the mirages out onto the battlefield. Rena Rouge was clearly just trying to distract the people, not hurt them, because the fake heroes were doing more swinging around and jumping than actually trying to break the people free. If her mirages were touched, they would just disappear, so she was trying to avoid that.

The real group of heroes skirted around the mock battles, going towards the tower in a roundabout way as to not make themselves obvious. 

"We have five minutes now before two of us turn back," Ladybug said as they ran together. "Carapace, I advise you run away from this as soon as possible, because we might need Pegasus to save one of us instead of you."

At the moment she said that, they reached the tower and the shield dropped. Immediately, as quickly as possible, Ladybug grabbed onto Pegasus and Chat Noir grabbed Viperion, and the two climbers crawled and swung themselves up the side of the tower. 

Several of their other mirages were there as well, but Scarlet Moth seemed to be very confident in himself. Some of the mirages would randomly disappear every few seconds, and Chat Noir realized what was going on when he felt a finger poke into his side.

"It's Vanisher," he told the group. Nobody moved, but as the rest of the people in the room disappeared, it became clear that they were the real people. Viperion took the time at this moment to call his second chance, and immediately took up a defensive pose.

"We've been through this before," he told the group. "Several dozen times now. Pegasus, take me to the top of the tower, and Ladybug call your lucky charm right now. This is the only way to get past the next few minutes. After that, good luck." 

Then he grabbed a seemingly random spot in the air, clearly where Vanisher was at the moment, and jumped straight into Pegasus's portal with Pegasus himself close behind.

"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug called. Just like last time, the object in her hand turned out to be a miraculous holding box. "Okay, Chat Noir, we have five minutes. Let's do this." They looked at each other and then leapt into action. 

Ladybug knew that backup was probably coming at this very moment, now that Scarlet Moth knew where the real threat was. Therefore, her first course of action was to throw her yo-yo outside of the tower, where it spun around the whole thing over and over until they were trapped together in a web-like cage and backup would have trouble getting in.

Meanwhile, Chat Noir was distracting Scarlet Moth, which was remarkably easy. Now that his backup was gone and his secret weapons (Volpina and Vanisher) were being taken care of, he was left without any defence other than himself. Chat Noir even managed to punch him in the face once, although he got hit hard with the cane several times in response.

Ladybug was at a disadvantage now that her yo-yo was gone, but after she was done stringing up the tower, the fight was still two against one and Scarlet Moth did not have as much superhero fighting experience. 

After only a minute of fighting, the two of them saw an opportunity and took it. Chat Noir called his cataclysm, Ladybug jumped from behind and kicked Scarlet Moth's legs out from under him, and in an instant his staff was broken in pieces.


	3. It's Really Over?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of evil in Paris (hopefully)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again for waiting so long to post. I literally have thousands and thousands of words written now but as I wrote more, I kept revising older chapters (like this one) so I put off posting this.

In the end they were together, just like last time. Just Scarlet Moth, Ladybug, and Chat Noir, alone. But this time, Lilah was gone and Catalyst was not there to be backup.

"It's over, Hawkmoth," Ladybug said. She stood over him, as he sat there on the ground with his staff in pieces behind him. Chat Noir stood beside her.

"Let's get this over with," Chat Noir said to her quietly. "Remember, we're going to transform back soon."

Ladybug walked over to Hawkmoth wordlessly. He shied away from her, but he knew there was nothing he could really do to stop her as she reached down to his chest, to his miraculous, and pulled it off in one swift motion.

Gabriel Agreste sat there, on the ground, blood spilling down his bottom lip.

"_You're_ Hawkmoth?" Chat Noir said. It wasn't actually a question - but the surprise was clear in his voice.

"I did it for my wife," Gabriel mumbled to himself as if trying to justify the destruction he had been causing for months. Nooroo flew down to his face, looking upset. 

"Are you alright?" he asked, worried.

"Nooroo," Ladybug called. "You don't have to do as he says anymore. You can rejoin the other kwamis in the music box now."

Nooroo looked up at her with worry and hope in his eyes, and she placed the butterfly pendant into the miraculous box. Nooroo zoomed into it as she closed the box, and she used her other hand to tug on the end of her yoyo. It unravelled, revealing Gabriel to the rest of Paris as he sat on the edge of the ledge - to the other superheroes, the police, and to the numerous suddenly de-akumatized people who were walking around in confusion, wondering where they were.

"Come on, Chat," Ladybug said. He hadn't said another word since Hawkmoth had been revealed. She was about to ask him if he was okay when the last spot on her earrings started to flash.

"I have to go," she called hurriedly to him as she started to run to the edge of the tower. "Meet me in an hour?" She didn't have enough time to wait for a response, so the world watched as Ladybug swung herself away into the busyness of the Paris evening, unwillingly leaving Chat Noir alone.

Marinette de-transformed in an alley close to the Eiffel Tower.

"We did it... we finally defeated Hawkmoth!" Marinette said to Tikki excitedly. Tikki's face immediately lit up in delight.

"Come here," Marinette said, and snuggled the kwami to her face. "I can't believe we actually did it."

"Great job, Marinette!" Tikki cheered as she started to zoom in circles around her head. "I knew you could do it!"

After a second though, Marinette got back up. "Here's a macaron, Tikki," she said. "We need to transform back - remember, there are still a couple of other heroes out there and I need to take their miraculouses back to Master Fu as soon as possible."

Tikki finished up the last few nibbled of her macaron. "Let's do it!" she chirped.

"Tikki, spots on!" Marinette called. Ladybug ran right back out of the alleyway, back to the Eiffel tower.

The cops were there, as well as a large media crew. Ladybug stayed away from them. What she needed right now was the other superheroes, who would have de-transformed even before her or Chat Noir.

She found Alya and Nino together, at the edge of the river behind a building. They were sitting with their backs to a wall, heads rested on each other as Nino grinned and Alya chattered away in happiness.

"Hey guys," Ladybug said as soon as she saw them. Alya jumped up and ran straight to Ladybug's arms. 

"I can't believe it!" Alya said, squeezing onto her before letting go. "We did it! And you two were incredible."

"I'm happy too," Nino said, but he looked a bit more troubled. "But i can't believe it was Adrien's dad who was Hawkmoth. I wonder how he'll react when he finds out."

Ladybug suddenly felt very bad. Even though she knew that Gabriel was Adrien's dad, she had been so happy and overwhelmed she hadn't really thought over the fact that _Hawkmoth was Adrien's dad_.

"I'll see how he's doing later, I promise. But for now..."

"Oh, of course!" Alya said before she could finish. "Here are the miraculouses."

"Thanks," Ladybug smiled. "I'll talk to you two later, okay?"

Next was Pegasus. Him and Viperion of them had found a way to escape the tower after they had defeated Volpina, but other than that their meeting was uneventful - Max was excited that Hawkmoth had been defeated, but since it was only his second time using a miraculous, he was less enthusiastic.

Finally, it was Viperion's turn. Ladybug found him, too, near the river, with his legs over the edge as he stared into it. Evidently he had separated from Max to be by himself.

"That was amazing," he said as he looked up to her. "I'm so glad I got to be a part of defeating him."

"You did a great job," Ladybug said with a smile. "We wouldn't have been able to defeat Hawkmoth without the second chances you gave us."

"I know who you two are," Luka said abruptly. Ladybug's face switched between expressions for a few seconds before finally settling on shock. Luka, usually with a carefree expression, looked troubled, because he knew he shouldn't have found out.

"I had my suspicions before, of course," Luka told her. "But in one of the futures Vanisher managed to pull your earrings off, and Chat's ring. I didn't realize it and I saw you both, so now I know your identities."

Ladybug's face was frozen. "It's... fine..." she stuttered, trying to figure out what to say. "I mean, Hawkmoth was defeated, right? So there aren't any supervillains in Paris anymore. Just..." she looked at him, uneasiness on her face and blood rushing into her cheeks. "Just don't tell anyone, okay, Luka?"

"Of course," he said with a smile. "Your secret is safe with me. And Marinette... it's time for you to tell Adrien how you feel about him."

A startled look appeared on her face once again. "That seems very off topic, but I'll try..." she managed to say. Luka had a sorrowful expression on his face, but he smiled through it.

"See you for band practice on Monday," he said.

Luka looked sadly up at the emerging stars as Ladybug bounded away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand it's a short chapter, because the next one is the one everyone is probably looking forward to so I wanted to leave this on a (sort of) cliffhanger!
> 
> I made a small mistake in this chapter - I won't say what it is but if you notice it just know that I know already.


	4. Everything Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug and Chat Noir sitting on a rooftop alone, things happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another slightly shorter chapter, I know, but I assume most of you won't mind considering the content ;)

"We defeated him." It had been an hour, and Chat Noir and Ladybug were sitting on a ledge nearby her house. However, despite their victory, Chat Noir didn't sound as happy as he should have been.

"What's wrong?" Ladybug said. She had been excited just a second before to celebrate their victory, but the upset look on his face made her unsure if he was happy or not, so the smile dropped from her face.

"It's just..." Chat Noir glanced at her, not sure of what to say without revealing his identity. He looked back up at the night sky. "I knew him. Gabriel Agreste. I can't believe he did this."

"I can," Ladybug said firmly, having thought about this for a while after her conversation with Nino and Alya. "I knew him too. He pushed his own son away from him and isolated him from the rest of the world. I respected Gabriel for the work he did, but he wasn't a good person."

Chat Noir looked at her in surprise. He still didn't know who Ladybug was, but this confirmed without a doubt that she was someone he _knew_.

"And I know he said he did it for his wife," she continued, "but no one person's life is worth as much destruction and panic as he's caused."

"Ladybug?"

"Yeah?" 

"Do you think we can know each other's identities now?"

Ladybug looked startled at the thought, but then her face turned thoughtful. "Well... you know usually I would say no, we should ask Master Fu first. But now... Luka already knows. He saw us." Chat Noir looked up in surprise at the new information, but she continued to speak. "And now that Hawkmoth is gone... there's nothing to lose, right?" She looked back at him, smiling in hope. "I don't think Paris even needs Ladybug and Chat Noir any more. We're going to have to give up our miraculouses anyways since it's not a secret to the whole world anymore... so why not?"

Chat Noir brightened, and an expression of hope appeared on his face. "I'm so glad I finally get to know who you are, milady. Do you want to go first, or me?"

"I will," Ladybug responded after a pause. She wouldn't expect herself to be so nervous about this - but her identity was something she'd been keeping a secret for so long, so it felt weird to go back on that now. Plus, Chat Noir was one of her closest friends, so she really hoped that everything would turn out well. 

But she could think about that later. Right now, all she could do was take a deep breathe and finally take off her disguise.

"Spots off."

"Marinette?!" Chat Noir practically yelped. He seemed more surprised about her being Ladybug than he had been about his father being Hawkmoth. "It's been you this whole time?!"

"Yeah." She pulled her legs towards her chest and her cheeks turned red.

"Marinette, what is happening?" Tikki asked, having just appeared into the scene.

"Well, we defeated Hawkmoth, right?" she said to the little kwami. "Paris isn't in danger any more, and our identities aren't a secret, so it's finally safe for us to know who each other are."

Tikki zoomed up to Marinette's face. "I'm so excited!" she said happily, putting her hands up to her tiny cheek.

Marinette wasn't sure what to say in response. She let another deep breath out. "Anyways..." Marinette said, turning back to Chat Noir who hadn't said another word yet. "It's your turn."

Chat Noir suddenly looked very nervous. "Okay... I hope this turns out well," he almost whispered to himself. Then Chat Noir, too, took a deep breathe in and closed his eyes. "Claws in."

Marinette _actually_ yelped in surprise, and fell backwards (which was easy to do considering she was already in an unsteady position). "ADRIEN?! Oh my god, you're Adrien. I mean, you're Chat Noir. I mean... I've been rejecting Adrien all this time, of course, he kept on leaving at the same time-"

"Shh, Marinette," Tikki said, mostly because she was about to start rambling even more than she already was.

"What's happening?" Plagg interrupted, having just appeared by Adrien's side.

"Adrien and Marinette revealed themselves!" Tikki responded in her usual hyper voice, zooming over to Plagg's side as Marinette picked herself off of the ground.

Plagg suddenly looked more interested. "It's about time. But first, Adrien... what does a kwami have to do to get some cheese...?"

Adrien rolled his eyes at his kwami, but reached into his jacket immediately and pulled out his usual piece of camembert. He was so used to Plagg's antics that it was just second nature to placate him at this point.

"This is impossible," Marinette said, still unable to comprehend it. "I saw you two together. I saw you and Chat Noir, or you and Adrien, together, and you couldn't have had the fox miraculous like I used so-"

"Of course you'd think up a plan like that," Adrien chuckled, a hand cupped under his chin as he stared at her. "I just used a cardboard cutout of my own face in order to trick you."

She sighed, pulling her legs back up to her chest again, her mind suddenly thinking of the worst - how she'd been acting around Adrien in the past. "I'm sure you're disappointed that I'm Ladybug," Marinette said after a moment, her face flushing with shame the more she thought of it. She was very confident in herself most of the time, but she had never been able to control how she acted around him. "You probably expected someone who's always brave, but instead it's just me, the stuttering klutz." Tikki flew up behind her ready to console her, but there was no need.

"Are you kidding?" Adrien looked startled at even the thought that Marinette would think that. "Marinette, you've always been kind, and helpful, and selfless whether you're yourself or Ladybug. I just never realized because you acted so differently around me. But you're still the same person on the inside. If anything, you're probably disappointed that I'm Chat Noir... after all, you never liked me like that as much as me now, and being Chat Noir was when I could be myself the most." His voice got quieter and quieter as he spoke, remembering himself how amazing Marinette was compared to him, as Ladybug and not. After all, she'd become famous solely because of her own skill, whereas he was painfully aware at the moment that he had only become well-known because of his family.

"No, Adrien," Marinette said quickly, her eyes wide. "Remember, once, when you were Chat Noir and we were talking on the rooftop? I told you the only reason I couldn't love you was because I loved someone else... things would have been different if I didn't love you as Adrien, but I liked you just as much as Chat Noir, just in a different way, and-"

"Wait," Adrien stopped moving for a second. "Did you just say... _I _was the boy you said you loved?" He clearly couldn't even process it at the moment.

Marinette slapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide open as she realised what she had just said out loud. Once again her rambling had accidentally caused her to spill her real feelings for him, but this time there was no denying what she had said.

"Yes, Adrien," Tikki interjected. "I can't believe it took that long for you to figure it out, especially considering the posters of you all over her room."

"Tikki!" Marinette exclaimed indignantly, burying her head in her hands. At this point, her entire face was bright red.

"It's fine," Plagg said nonchalantly. "Adrien has probably a million photos of Ladybug on his phone, and probably just as many half-written love letters."

Adrien buried his face in his hands as well, but after a second he started to giggle at the absurdity of the whole situation. Marinette peeked out of her hands, and then began to giggle as well, and soon they were both laughing in shock and embarrassment and happiness.

"I can't believe we're in this situation," Marinette finally said after a long pause. "I can't believe that this whole time, Chat Noir was you and I never realized it."

"Marinette..." Adrien looked back at her, and then hesitantly moved closer to her. "I'm so glad I finally know who you are, bugaboo."

Marinette let go of her legs and took her face completely out of her hands, smiling and finally looking up at Adrien who was now right next to her. The shock was finally wearing off as they both processed all of the consequences of this, and combined the views of the two different people they had thought were very separate.

"May I?" Adrien asked after a second of silence. And with that, they leaned together, eyes closed and hands intertwining, and their lips met. It was a short kiss, but the world seemed to drop away for a moment.

Marinette pulled away after a few seconss, her whole face red still but a warm smile on her face. She leaned towards Adrien again, pulling him into a hug. Adrien was surprised for a second, but then he hugged her back just as fiercely.

They probably stayed like that for a full five minutes, unmoving, unspeaking, just embracing each other and thinking how lucky they were to have finally found each other.

* * *

After the reveal the night before, Adrien and Marinette had not had a lot of time to chat or do anything before they had both needed to immediately go home. Marinette was sad to see him go, partly because he would be going home and not knowing who would be there, but she had realized that she had to go home as soon as possible so that her parents didn't worry. However, since the next day was a Sunday, they had plans to meet again at the first chance they could.

Marinette could not believe that any of this had happened. Her parents had had to call her name at least four times that morning, because she just kept on thinking about the dream that was last night. The whole thing felt awfully fragile, too good to be true, but every time she thought that horrible thought Tikki was there to assure that it really had happened.

"Marinette." Her mom was calling her name again.

"Yes maman?"

"I was asking you, will you be coming with us to the celebration today?"

"Celebration?"

"Of course, Marinette," her dad interjected. "Our superheroes have stopped Hawkmoth once and for all!"

"Oh right! That celebration. I am going to go with... Alya." She had clearly been very absent minded in all of this, because of _course_ there would be a celebration. "Actually, I said I would meet her really soon, can I go over?"

"Of course, Marinette," her mom smiled. "Go whenever you're ready, because I expect the bakery will become very busy soon."

"Okay, I'll see you later," Marinette got up from her seat. "Bye mom, bye dad!"

"Something's clearly on her mind," Sabine told Tom once she had left the bakery. "I wonder if it has to do with a boy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was SO HARD to write, I rewrote this scene like 10 different times trying to get it right. And it's still not perfect so I think it's clear that I don't know how to write the start of a romance (because I've never gone through one myself)!
> 
> That was the hardest scene though, and the future scenes should be easier to write (especially since I have like 5 more scenes written, I just wanted to revise and publish this chapter first.)


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